Advocacy

Wheelchair vs. Walker

Hi, my name is William Volkmann, I am a 38 year old guy living with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The CP affects me physically and when I was younger I used a walker to help me get around. At nine years old, I was able to walk without any assistant device, but when I turned 27 I developed a medical issue that required me to use a walker again. After a few years of using it again, I noticed it was actually better to use a combination of a walker and wheelchair. I realized that if I wanted to go do anything outdoors,

A War of Words: “Politically Correct” vs “Plain Speaking”

Political Correction for the Politically Incorrect Labels

When it comes to the community of persons with disabilities and special needs, labels are a hot topic. We use certain words to describe individuals or ourselves. Unfortunately, words have the power to hurt feelings and limit expectations. We’d rather those words NOT be used to label us. On the other hand,

As this article is being written, the Senate Republicans are drafting a bill behind closed doors that could repeal The Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Healthcare Act. The bill, as it currently stands after being passed through the House, would convert the current Medicaid expansion into “block grants,” shifting program costs over to the states. This provision has the potential to dramatically

The New Jersey gubernatorial race is in full swing and voting will take place this November 7th. We reached out to all the current candidates (as of May 12, 2017) to find out their stances on issues that are important to people with disabilities and special needs and their families, living in New Jersey. We wanted to share these statements with you, our readers, to ensure you know each candidate’s stance on the issues facing the disability community.

With the federal government proposing sweeping changes to public policies that could have a direct impact on state services for people with disabilities and special needs, it has never been more important to elect a strong leader for New Jersey. Easterseals has advocated for and provided services to people with disabilities and their families for nearly 100 years, helping them to live, learn, work, and play in their communities. That’s why we have gathered these statements for your careful review, as they will help you make an informed decision when entering the voting booth this November.

Click on the photos of your candidate to read the statement they provided. (DISCLAIMER: This does not represent every NJ gubernatorial candidate currently running, as not all gave statements in response to our call.)

Candidates are presented in alphabetical order as not to show any preferential treatment towards any one candidate.

Our latest blog topic comes to us from Hinkle, Fingles, Prior, & Fischer, a Jersey-based law firm that represents people with disabilities and their families in the tri-state area. They detailed a landmark decision handed down by the Supreme Court that affects how Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) are deemed “appropriate.”

As IEP’s begin to be set, we want to make sure you stay up-to-date on all the important issues so you’re able to effectively advocate for your loved ones.

A Time to Learn

In honor of Developmental Disability Awareness Month, we will be exploring what exactly “developmental disability” is. How is it defined? What challenges does it pose? And why do we have the term in the first place? This is the first part of our ongoing series of blog posts that will be diving a bit deeper on individual types and classifications of disabilities. We hope these posts will serve

The art world has a long history of people with disabilities excelling in extraordinary ways, such as Beethoven (hearing impaired), Leonardo da Vinci (dyslexic), Van Gogh (mentally ill), and Matisse (visually impaired). Their accomplishments have earned them a permanent place in our history books. Their disabilities presented them with certain challenges in their daily experience and

Paychecks, not Pity

The subject of employment for people with disabilities took the national stage on September 21, 2016 when the democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, reached out to voters with disabilities in a campaign speech in Orlando, Florida.

The “Look” of Disability

The word disability inspires a wide variety of images. Wheelchairs. Prosthetics. White-tipped canes. The problem with these images, however, is that they only represent a fraction of this diverse and nuanced concept. So, what’s the alternative?

Imagine a World Without Stairs

Think about all the things in this world that you would no longer be able to access. Your favorite restaurant? Doctor’s office? Your own home? How would this make you feel?

If you were a person with a disability living in the U.S. before the 1990’s, this feeling was (and may still be) a familiar one. The very architecture of society was structured in such a way that ignored the rights of Americans with disabilities.